Opera singer Nancy Curtis, a native Houstonian, performs the national anthem before the game.

Opera singer Nancy Curtis, a native Houstonian, performs the national anthem before the game.

Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle

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Texans fans who have a connection to cancer will hold the Texas flag during pregame festivities.

Texans fans who have a connection to cancer will hold the Texas flag during pregame festivities.

Photo: Karen Warren / Houston Chronicle

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Texans owner Bob McNair wears a pink ribbon on his lapel before the Texans game against the Rams.

Texans owner Bob McNair wears a pink ribbon on his lapel before the Texans game against the Rams.

Photo: Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle

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Texans cornerback Kareem Jackson walks onto the field with his mother, Rossalyn, before the Pink Ribbon Day game. Mrs. Jackson has battled breast cancer twice and is currently in remission.

Texans cornerback Kareem Jackson walks onto the field with his mother, Rossalyn, before the Pink Ribbon Day game. Mrs. Jackson has battled breast cancer twice and is currently in remission.

Photo: Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle

Texans rip the fans who cheered Schaub's injury

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The moment many longed for was delivered.

It was ugly. Brutal. Classless and embarrassing, Texans players said. The starkest sign yet that the team’s freefalling 2013 season is on the verge of spiraling out of control.

Quarterback Matt Schaub crumpled to the Reliant Stadium turf Sunday with less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter during the Texans’ 38-13 loss to the St. Louis Rams. He initially didn’t get up, and some in the thinning crowd cheered.

T.J. Yates’ name was called. A backup became a starter for the second consecutive week, and a ringing ovation followed. So did a Schaub-like pick-six, with Yates’ sixth pass returned 98 yards for a touchdown by linebacker Alec Ogletree. Then another Yates interception, as a Week 6 version of a must-win became the lowest point in the season.

The Texans dropped their fourth consecutive game and were forced to place the ball in their backup’s hands during their second straight blowout loss. But after Schaub was evaluated and his right ankle taped, and Yates’ day ended with a final-play strip as boos again rang out in Reliant, the attack on Schaub took center stage.

Teammates unite

Texans left tackle Duane Brown said fans cheering Schaub’s injury was “disgusting.” Yates called the applause “disrespectful.” J.J. Watt said those who approved of Schaub’s pain are leading a backward life.

Reactions from Andre Johnson and Arian Foster were stronger.

“It’s bad when members of the other team are saying that’s messed up that (fans) would do something like that,” Johnson said. “It just shows no class. It wasn’t all the fans. But those are the same people that you’re out somewhere with your family and you tell them they can’t have an autograph right now, those are the same people that tell you you’re rude.

Classless acts

“It shows what they’re all about. You don’t cheer about nobody being injured – I don’t care who it is.”

After an NFL-record four pick-sixes in four games, Schaub fury peaked this week, and coach Gary Kubiak acknowledged he came close to making a starting quarterback change. But years of Schaub questions and weeks filled with attacks were just a setup for Sunday’s scene.

“That is just tasteless and tactless,” Foster said. “I was extremely heated at that. The fans can get emotional. That is just not how I was brought up. That is not the kind of man I am. I don’t care how you feel about a man. You don’t kick him when he is down.”

Pre-injury Sunday, Schaub was one of the Texans’ few offensive bright spots, completing 15 of 21 passes for 186 yards. He was stuck on the sideline during the fourth quarter, though, being examined by trainers while Yates led a stop-and-start offense that collected 420 yards but just 13 points.

Schaub was unavailable postgame, undergoing tests to address his injury. Yates completed 12 of 17 passes for 98 yards. But his two interceptions only added to the Rams’ onslaught. And the backup many have long wanted to receive a starting chance was as disgusted as his teammates.

“The guy is laying there on the ground holding his ankle and the fans are cheering,” Yates said. “For all the guy has done for this city and this team, for the fans to be booing him when he is hurt on the ground, straight-up disrespectful.”